Saturday 9: Rocket Man

On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love to answer the questions, however, and here is today's questions!

Sam's Saturday 9: Rocket Man (1972)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
 
1) In this song, Elton John tells us he's taking off for outerspace at 9:00 AM. What will you be doing at 9:00 AM tomorrow morning?
Hopefully sleeping!

2) He sings that even though he uses it for his astronaut job, he doesn't understand science. Was science one of your better classes in school?
Yes I was a member of the Science Club.

3) Lyricist Bernie Taupin recalls writing the first verse of "Rocket Man" while stuck in traffic as he tried to make his way to his parents' home. Have you recently been stuck in traffic? If yes, where were you headed?

Not recently, however, when I go up to Cape Cod there will be because side of the bridge on I-195 in Providence is closed. It will mean long delays in going over the bridge or going north by the way of I-90 and I-495.

I might go that way once to see how bad the delays are on the bridge.

4) Thinking of cars ... Nigel Olsson, who plays drums and sings back-up on "Rocket Man," is a self-proclaimed "race car fanatic." What hobby are you passionate about?
Photography, but lately I haven’t gotten motivated to take photos. I hope that once the weather gets warmer that I will be out with my camera.

5) Davey Johnstone, who plays guitar on "Rocket Man," recently posted on Facebook that he was thrilled to meet Joni Mitchell. Are you on Facebook? Instagram? Twitter? Pinterest? Tik Tok?
Just Facebook and I am friends with one Sat 9er on Facebook and friends of one former Sat 9er.

6) Elton John once played charades with Bob Dylan. But only once. Elton laughingly says he can't get over how "hopeless" Dylan was at the game. What's the last game you played? Did you win?
Um… it was so long ago that I don’t remember. I hope that “Game Night” starts back up again at the local art gallery this fall.

Video games I play 0 AD.

7) In 1972, when this song was popular, Winnie the Pooh was on the cover the Sears Christmas Wish Book. That year, kids asked Santa for plush Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore. Did you have many plush toys as a child? If yes, do you still have any of them?
Yes and no. I used to have a "Teddy" bear but I don't still have any of them.

8) Also in 1972, TV cowboy Dan Blocker died. He played the middle brother, "Hoss," on Bonanza. Do you enjoy watching westerns?
I did and I watch old reruns of westerns like “Tales of Wells Fargo”

9) Random question: What inspires you?
Well that is a wide open subject… inspired to do what?
Photography? College and all the photo majors.
My MSW? The desire to be busy in retirement.
My activism? My desire to help others.

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!

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The webcam of I-95 bridge repair after the accident last Thursday.

I-95 in Connecticut closed, video shows bridge engulfed in flames following crash: Watch

A multi-vehicle collision on Thursday caused a gas tanker to erupt into flames and damage an overpass above I-95 in Connecticut, near Norwalk.

USA TODAY

By Saman Shafiq, Thao Nguyen, & Krystal Nurse

May 3, 2024

The Book Police

Do you remember Fahrenheit 451 when you spotted a book you called the “Fire Department” to burn the book? Well the Book Police invaded a classroom looking for prohibited books…

Teacher whose classroom was searched by police for 'Gender Queer' will sue Great Barrington and schools if they refuse mediation
The Berkshire Eagle
By Heather Bellow
April 29, 2024

The English teacher who was questioned by police searching her eighth grade classroom for a controversial book says she will file a civil rights lawsuit if the town and school district do not agree to participate in mediation.

The potential for litigation has prompted the town and the Berkshire Hills Regional School District to each schedule closed-door sessions with their attorneys Monday night, according to their agendas — one of which names the teacher, who continues to ask that her name not be published out of fear for "harassment and worse."

So what set off the fire drill?

The specter of a lawsuit has boiled up since Dec. 8, when a night custodian at the school complained to police about the possibly “pornographic” contents of a book in the teacher’s classroom. He also accused the teacher of allowing a student to sit on her lap.

What followed was a plainclothes Great Barrington police officer going to the classroom after school that day to question her about the book “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” by Maia Kobabe. He also tried to find the copy that she provides in her classroom as supplemental reading material that has to be checked out by students with her permission only. It is unclear where the book was located at the time of the search and where it is now. District officials previously said that its appropriateness would be reviewed.

I don’t blame the police, they received a complaint and they had to investigate, I blame the feeding frenzy that the conservatives have created, however the chief of police leaves a lot to desire.

The Berkshire Edge reported,

The report states that Officer O’Brien was the one who received the complaints from Yorke, and that, at the beginning of the investigation, O’Brien showed Chief Storti photographs of the book provided by Yorke. O’Brien states:

Two of the photographs were of the front cover of the book. The third photograph was two interior pages of the book. Chief Storti stated that the illustrations [from the book] were concerning because there was no context provided. Chief Storti stated that upon reviewing the information, as well as the photographs, it was his opinion that the Police Department had a duty to immediately follow up on the complaint.

Chief Storti was asked whether “he believed that the material was inappropriate and of a pornographic nature as contemplated by Massachusetts General Law c 272 29 (Dissemination of Obscene Matter).” The report states:

He replied ‘Yes.’ He added that this was based on, in part, because there were only three photographs, and no other context was provided. Chief Storti also explained that he was unable to determine the age of the individuals depicted in the illustrations and was unsure whether students had access to the book.

When asked by investigators, Chief Storti said that he did not believe that the Police Department needed a warrant to search the school for the book.

[…]

Under its “findings” section, the report states:

Comprehensive Investigations and Consulting, LLC, finds that the actions of Officer Joseph O’Brien, as well as the actions of the Great Barrington Police Department, regarding the incident at the W.E.B. Du Bois Middle School, on December 8, 2023, were lawful and proper.

Right next to the statement, the word “exonerated” is typed up in all capital and bold letters.

The Berkshire Eagle goes on to report…

“Our client, the teacher, has very substantial legal claims against both the Town of Great Barrington and the School District for violating her civil rights,” said Cooper, of law firm Todd & Weld LLP. “What happened never should have happened.”

So I imagine that the two sides will settle the law suit out of court and both sides will call it a victory, but we as the general public will pay the price with less access to books… the “Fire Department” did their job. Create fear about the books we read.

It Is Spreading.

Like slime spreading on everything it touches, the attack on our healthcare has spread to the north of the border.

Premier's announcement on transgender policies surprised Alberta Health Services advisory group
Internal records obtained through freedom of information request
CBC News
By Nicholas Frew
April 30, 2024

Members of the body that advises Alberta Health Services about 2SLGBTQ+ health care were surprised by Premier Danielle Smith's proposed transgender policies announcement earlier this year, according to internal records obtained by CBC News.

In a video posted to social media on Jan. 31, Smith laid out a host of proposed policies focused on transgender youth, including several regarding gender-affirming care. She formally announced the policies at a news conference the following day.

Records obtained by CBC News through a freedom of information request highlight concerns raised by members of the AHS Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) provincial advisory council in the days after the premier announced the proposed policies.

"This announcement is politically motivated and not based in fact or clinical guidelines," one council member wrote in a Feb. 2 email to two named AHS officials and other recipients whose email addresses were redacted. The sender's identity was also protected under privacy legislation.

"I believe we have an obligation to inform (as per our mandate) those in our sphere of influence, which includes the public, and leaders within the organization with the right information," the email said, adding that the council also needed to convey "the damage this policy does to the health of 2SLGBTQ Albertans especially those kids."

The lies about puberty blockers has spread, the blockers have been used safely since the early 1980s but now the right-wingers are citing their fake research!

Among other things, the government's proposed policies would ban top and bottom surgeries for anyone under 18 (Doctors say bottom surgeries aren't performed on youth and top surgeries are rare.)

Puberty blockers and hormone therapies would not be permitted for those under 16, unless someone has already started treatment.

Teens aged 16 or 17 could start hormone therapies if they are deemed mature enough and have parental, physician and psychologist approval.

Once a trans woman goes through puberty their voice will never change go back and this policy will cause life long harm.

The polling results suggest that 44 per cent of Albertans agree with the government's proposed policy about gender-affirming surgeries for minors. The same proportion of Albertans believe puberty blockers and hormone therapies for gender affirmation should not be permitted for children aged 15 and under.

Opinions were more divided about older teens: the poll suggests that 28 per cent of Albertans feel it is appropriate to allow mature teens, aged 16 or 17, to start puberty blockers and therapies for gender reassignment and affirmation, if granted approval.

What does the poll show?

First off the adults who have an opinion about puberty blockers know absolutely nothing about except for the for the lies the conservatives push that they are experimental and cause life long dangers… both of which are lies. While the teens know the truth.

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The U.S. National Institute of Health had this to say about the puberty blockers…

CONCLUSIONS

Among transgender adults in the United States who have wanted pubertal suppression, access to this treatment is associated with lower odds of lifetime suicidal ideation. This study strengthens recommendations by the Endocrine Society and WPATH for this treatment to be made available for transgender adolescents who want it.

The the American Physiological Society (APS) writes,

Researchers say the results bolster the evidence that short-term use of puberty blockers does not cause permanent damage to the ovaries and uterus. However, they noted that because the study was conducted in rats, additional research would be needed to confirm the findings in humans.

“The results of this study suggest that the short-term developmental delay of the uterus and ovaries caused by the puberty-blocking treatment in young female rats was reversible. A majority of reproductive function also recovered immediately after puberty blocking withdrawal,” said Brandon Jones, PhD, the study’s first author and assistant professor of exercise science at Marshall University. “This study can help inform adolescents and their families in the decision to take puberty-blocking medication.”

But the conservatives don’t care about facts. They just want to force us back into the closet.

Not All Churches Are The Same

Some are affirming while other are hateful. One preaches “Love thy neighbor” and the others preach fire and brimstone. And one is split right down the middle.

United Methodists repeal ban on LGBTQ clergy

The Hill

BY LAUREN IRWIN

May 1, 2024

Delegates within the United Methodist Church voted to repeal their church’s longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy Wednesday, showing overwhelming support that contrasts with decades of controversy over the issue.

The church voted 692-51 at its General Conference to remove a rule that bans “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” from being ordained or appointed as a minister, The Associated Press reported.

In the past, elders within the United Methodist Church have reinforced the LGBTQ ban during their annual conference, held in Charlotte, N.C., but the group has moved in a more progressive direction after some conservative members left the denomination.

The change doesn’t mandate or explicitly affirm LGBTQ clergy members but means the church no longer forbids them from serving churches across the country. After the vote, applause broke out and members from advocacy groups embraced, per the AP.

It was painful for them, they lost a sizable chunk of their congregation over it.

Delegates voted Tuesday to remove mandatory penalties for conducting same-sex marriages and remove bans on considering LGBTQ candidates in the network of churches. The votes are historic for the delegation that has been debating LGTBQ rights for more than half a century, the AP reported.

While the changes are celebrated by many current members, the AP noted that nearly 8,000 conservative congregations across the country disaffiliated with the church from 2019 to 2023 after the denomination did not enforce its bans around LGBTQ communities.

NPR wrote,

The tone of the Charlotte meeting has been decidedly upbeat, in sharp contrast with the last, highly contentious global meeting back in 2019, when heated floor debates left many feeling hurt.

In fact, there was no floor debate over the clergy and marriages rules this time around. Rather, they were included on a consent agenda.

However, in the years leading up to this General Conference, about one-quarter of United Methodist congregations in the U-S left the denomination. Those congregations tended to be among the most conservative in the church. Their departure made the decisions this year less fraught.

It is sad that it came to this but the haters chose to leave rather than follow the teaching of Jesus.

A Bad Word…

And it is not even a four letter word… it is “Diversity.”

Have you noticed that the right-wingers do not like diversity, equity nor inclusion. They think that it is their god given rights to discriminate against people they don’t like. People whose eyes are oddly made, people whose skin is a different shade, people who love people, people whose gender identity is different from theirs.

A conservative quest to limit diversity programs gains momentum in states
AP News
BY DAVID A. LIEB
April 24, 2024

A conservative quest to limit diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives is gaining momentum in state capitals and college governing boards, with officials in about one-third of the states now taking some sort of action against it.

Tennessee became the latest when the Republican governor this week signed legislation that would prohibit banks and other financial institutions from considering a customer’s participation — or lack thereof — in “diversity, equity and inclusion training” or “social justice programming.”

That came shortly after the Democratic governor in Kansas allowed legislation to become law without her signature that will prohibit statements about diversity, equity or inclusion from being used in decisions about student admissions, financial aid or employment at higher education institutions.

Last week, Iowa’s Republican-led Legislature also gave final approval to a budget bill that would ban all DEI offices and initiatives in higher education that aren’t necessary to comply with accreditation or federal law. The measure expands upon a directive last year from the Iowa Board of Regents to eliminate DEI staff positions.

Republican lawmakers in about two dozen states have filed bills seeking to restrict DEI initiatives this year. They are countered by Democrats who have sponsored supportive DEI measures in about 20 states. Altogether, lawmakers have proposed about 150 bills this year that would either restrict or promote DEI efforts, according to an Associated Press analysis using the legislation-tracking software Plural.

For over thirty years in manufacturing and twenty of them as a department manager I have never been told to hire a certain number of people with certain characteristics. I have had to sign policy statements saying that I would not discriminate in my work, but nowhere, at no time was there anything about a quote systems. We NEVER had to have a certain number of Blacks, or a certain number of women.

Higher education institutions and many businesses have long devoted resources to improving diversity and inclusivity.

More recently, conservative groups began raising concerns that DEI initiatives are promoting an agenda that elevates racial or gender identity over individual merit. Since 2022, about half a dozen conservative or libertarian organizations have offered model measures to state lawmakers to eliminate DEI offices or prohibit the use of DEI criteria in training programs or employment, academic and financial decisions.

NEVER have I heard of any businesses or colleges saying that they a quota system…. It is just another Republican lie to stir up to stir up anger in their base.

Corporate Diversity Programs Treat Minority Employees As Tokens, Not People | Opinion
Newsweek
By Raquel Rosario Sánchez
April 26, 2024

Diversity training is creating hostile work environments for minority groups. That is the key takeaway from new research published at the end of March by Britain's Free Speech Union. The report, titled "The EDI Tax: How Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is Hobbling British Businesses," surveyed 800 employees, 36 percent of whom said they witnessed employees being penalized by their employer for challenging the training. In addition, 31 percent said they had left a job because of their employer's promotion of political ideology. This figure rose to 43 percent among black people and 46 percent among Asian people.

[…]

The report states that Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) training, now unavoidable in most U.K. workplaces, is supposed to "make offices more inclusive, attractive places to work, particularly for members of historically disadvantaged groups. But according to the people we surveyed, it is having the opposite effect—and is particularly unpopular among ethnic minorities."

[Note: the Britain's Free Speech Union is conservative organization. Wikipedia says “The Free Speech Union has been criticized by journalists and former student members, who believe that the FSU has a right-wing agenda and that its stated aims are misleading.” So its pedigree is questionable.]

I did diversity training. And I can tell you there were a lot of people in those training session that didn’t want to be there. After one particular tense exchanges with one homeless shelter managers who was extremely against trans people in “HIS” shelter, the lady from HUD said something to like this, “Sir when you received that funding from HUD you agreed to these terms. Are you saying that you will not abide by those terms you agreed to? We are here today to give you tools to meet those obligations.”

And all we did to set him off was asked for pronouns while introducing yourself. Boy! He went off like a skyrocket. He went through the whole 90 minute workshop with his arms crossed, legs spread, and a sour look on his face like he was forced to eat a lemon. He even wrote to his congressional representatives that I found out about for the woman from HUD the next time we met to do the training… and our congressional representatives wrote back… obey the law or give back the money.

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And this will even set off more firework works from the conservative, Republican states are suing over this.

EEOC says workplace bias laws cover bathrooms, pronouns and abortion
The guidance is not legally binding, but lays out a blueprint for how the EEOC will enforce anti-bias laws and can be cited in court to back up legal arguments.
NBC News
By Reuters
April 30, 2024


The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Monday said employers refusing to use transgender workers’ preferred pronouns and barring them from using bathrooms that match their gender identity amounts to unlawful workplace harassment under federal anti-discrimination law.

The EEOC updated its enforcement guidance on workplace harassment for the first time in 25 years, including to reflect a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that anti-bias laws cover LGBTQ workers, after an earlier attempt stalled during the Trump administration.

The commission in the new guidance also addressed the rise of remote work and said that discriminating against employees based on their decisions to have abortions or use contraception is a form of sex discrimination.

The guidance is not legally binding, but lays out a blueprint for how the EEOC will enforce anti-bias laws and can be cited in court to back up legal arguments.

Some Republicans and conservative and religious groups had criticized the expansive guidance after the commission unveiled a draft version in September. They said it conflicts with state laws on abortion and LGBTQ issues and fails to acknowledge that religious employers are exempt from anti-discrimination laws in many cases.

EEOC Chair Charlotte Burrows in an interview said the guidance reflects decades of court rulings that have expanded workers’ rights to be free from workplace harassment, and that updating it was necessary to ensure that employers are aware of their legal obligations.

The right-wingers are hopping mad! They are not going to stand it! I foresee Republican governors’ saying that they are going to defy the Title VII federal law as they said that they will not follow the federal Title IX law!

Court Revives Title VII Claims Against CRT and Gender Identity Training
SHRM
April 30, 2024

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of claims brought by a state employee alleging that he was retaliated and discriminated against for his opposition to critical race theory (CRT) and gender identity training.

[…]

Nearly two years later, the father and son received emails from their supervisors instructing them to complete workplace trainings titled “How to be Anti-Racist (CRT Training)” and “Understanding Gender Identity and Expression: Moving Beyond the Binary.” The plaintiffs claimed that the trainings instructed employees to speak or refrain from speaking on certain political and ideological matters.

[…]

On Sept. 10, 2020, the father expressed his opposition to the gender identity training to one of his supervisors and sought a religious exemption. On Oct. 6, 2020, he emailed the supervisor, notifying him that he planned to retire on Jan. 6, 2021. On Oct. 27, 2020, the director of the Equal Opportunity and Access Division informed him via email that his request for a religious exemption was denied. On Nov. 2, 2020, the father replied that the denial of his exemption request solidified and confirmed his decision to leave the DHS.

This is not a clean case of refusing diversity training but it is also wrapped in “Religious Freedom” and I foresee other cases of “Religious Freedom” coming up in the courts for the new Title VII and Title IX policies.

 

Then you know who had to put their 2¢ in...

DEI destroyer? Trump vows to crush 'anti-white' racism if he wins 2024 election
USA Today
By Jessica Guynn
May 1, 2024

Lending his voice to anti-DEI fervor sweeping the Republican party, Donald Trump telegraphed a dramatic shift to America's approach to civil rights if he wins a second term as president, vowing to focus on "anti-white" racism, not on racism against people of color.

Asked about supporters who believe anti-white racism now represents a greater problem than anti-Black racism, the former president told Time magazine: "I think there is a definite anti-white feeling in this country and that can’t be allowed."

In the exclusive interview, Trump also said he would use the U.S. military to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants; deploy the National Guard to quash protests and gut the U.S. civil service.

He has to appease the white nationalist and white supremacists in his cult.

One of the goals of the presidential transition plan is reversing “the DEI revolution” by eliminating policies and programs such as affirmative action that work to counter racism that favors white people. Project 2025 calls it "affirmative discrimination."

As I said this whole Project 2025 thing is placate his whiteshirts, such as the Proud Boys and to form a white Christian nationalist country.

It is my god giving right to be a bigot.